Stovepipe heating system



Feb. 21, 1939; w H, c 2,147,658

STOVEPIPB HEATING SYSTEM Filed Feb. 5, 1937 2 Shets-Sheei 1 Feb. 21, 1939. w, H, LE mK 2,147,658

STOVEPIPE HEATING SYSTEM Filed Feb. 5, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l l v Patented Feb. 21, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

Broadly speaking, this invention aims to provide novel means for making use of the heat which would otherwise go to waste in the products of combustion proceeding from a stove or similar heater.

Another object of the invention is so to construct the device that the air may be forced through it advantageously. Another object of the invention is to supply novel means for cleaning the conduits through which the products of combustion pass.

It is within the province of the disclosure to improve generally and to enhance the utility of devices of that type to which the present invention appertains. I

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, may be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 shows in elevation, a device constructed in accordance with the invention, parts being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken through the body of the device which forms the subject matter of this application;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section showing the thermostat:

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken through the conduits for the products of combustion;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken through the passages through which the air is forced by the fan;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section.

40 The numeral l indicates a heater, represented for the sake of illustration as a very simple type of stove, from which the products of combustion pass, by way of the parts 2 and 3 of a stove pipe,

to a stove pipe thimble 4, and thence into the 45 chimney or flue (not shown).

The device forming the subject matter of this application preferably is made of metal throughout and comprises a casing, denoted as a whole by the numeral 5, the casing comprising an upper 50 partition 6 and a lower partition 1, the upper partition being connected by an upper tubular outlet neck 8 with the part 3 of the stove pipe, and the lower partition being connected by a lower outlet neck 9 with the part 2' of the stove pipe, the necks 55 8 and 9 being tapered toward their outer ends.

The partitions 6 and l are connected by conduits H) for the products of combustion. These conduits it are of the transversely elongated form shown in Fig. 6, but each of them has, at one end, an angular portion H, the portions ll of the 5 conduits forming flared inlet mouths M for the air to be heated, as Fig. 6 will show. The conduits l0 open at their upper ends into the neck 8, and at their lower ends into the neck 9. Between the conduits l0 exist air passages l2 which 10 are closed horizontally, at their upper and lower ends, by the partitions 6 and I. Horizontally considered, the air passages l2 between the conduits ID are closed at their upper and lower ends,

as Figs. 6 and 2 will make manifest. 15

Movable scraper plates l5 are mounted for horizontal reciprocation within the conduits II] for the products of combustion. The scraper plates I 5 are operated by handle rods l6, slidable in one end wall of each'conduit, as can be seen in Figs. 5 and 1. The scraper plates l5 fit closely but slidably in the conduits l0, and the operator may lay hold of the exposed portions of the handle rods l6 and reciprocate the scraper plates. In this way, the inner surfaces of the vertical walls of the conduits It may be freed of soot, and the soot will drop down readily through the inlet neck 9 and the stove pipe section 2 into the stove I or other heater that may be provided.

Air is forced through the passages l2 by a fan ll, driven by an electric motor Ill. The motor may be supported in accordance with the conditions that are dictated by the place of use or the tastes of the operator, but, as depicted in the drawings, the motor I8 is shown as connected to the neck 8 and to the neck 9 by brackets IS. The circuit for the motor I8 is designated by the numeral 20, and in it a thermostat 2| is interposed. The thermostat 2| preferably is mounted on the neck 8.

The operation of the device is simple, the products of combustion proceeding upwardly from the stove l or equivalent device move through the stove pipe section 2, the neck 9 and the conduits l0, into the neck 8 and proceed away by the stove pipe section 3 and the usual parts connected thereto. The products of combustion heat the conduits Ill. 'The fan 5 drives air through the air passages l2, and in this way, heat is made to serve a useful purpose, and the heat otherwise would be lost. The tapered or flaring mouths l4, afiorded by the angular portions ll of the conduits I0, facilitate the passage of the air into the air spaces or passages I2. The thermostat 2| governs the operation of the motor l8. When temperature conditions require, the thermostat II will put the motor I! and the fan I! into operation, but the tan does not run continuously, with a corresponding waste of current.

As has been intimated hereinbetore, the handle rods ll may be used to reciprocate the scraper plates Ii upon occasion, thereby freeing the inner walls or the conduits Ill from soot and the like, the walls of the conduits never being so insulated by the soot that they will not serve as eflective radiators for heat that otherwise would go to waste.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

In a device of the character described, a casing having a funnel-shaped lower inlet and an aiined tunnel-shaped upper outlet on its ends, partition plates extending crosswise oi the casing between the casing on the one hand, and the inlet and the outlet on the other hand, a plurality of spaced conduits between the partition plates and extending therethrough, the conduits being rectangular in cross section and extending the full width of the casing and having tapered portions at one side of the casing to provide flared inlets for air passages formed between adjacent conduits, scraper plates in the conduits, shaped to correspond with the cross sections of the conduits, and means extending through the walls of the conduits and connected to each of the scraper plates, whereby the same may be operated independently of each other to scrape the entire inner surface of each conduit.

WILLIAM H. LEPICK. 

